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| Lt. Vernon Smith was a B-29 bombardier in the 40th Bombardier Group in India. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5979514/vernon-d-smith |
Vernon Doty Smith never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on November 5, 1919 in Washington. His parents Glen and Eva were born in Kansas and Minnesota, respectively. His father worked as a saw mill laborer and later as a grocery store deliveryman. Still later he was a dairy company truck driver. Vernon was an only child. By 1940 Vernon had completed one year of college and was still living with his parents.
He was drafted into the army in October 1942 and decided to volunteer for the Army Air Forces and seek an officer's commission. He became a second lieutenant in the 395th Bombardment Squadron, 40th Bombardment Group, which was equipped with B-29 Superfortresses.
The 40th BG arrived in Chakulia, India in March 1944. During April, five planes crashed from overheated engines. The bombers had to be modified to operate in the higher temperatures in that part of India.
On June 5, 1944, the 40th BG was ready for its first mission to bomb Rangoon, Burma. Lt. Smith's bomber 42-6318 had a failure with engine #2 during takeoff. It was fully loaded with fuel and bombs. Although the plane managed to get airborne, after two minutes the left wing dropped and the bomber cartwheeled to the ground. All were killed except for the grievously wounded co-pilot.
Lt. Smith's grave is at Woodlawn Cemetery in Ferndale, Washington.
Last year on this date I profiled Peter Cummins, 44th Infantry Division. You can read about Peter here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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